Tonight is the season!

For any Toronto Blue Jays fan, tonight is the season for the Jays. A win tonight and the fans will think this season was a success. Tonight the Jays not only face the Yankees for the first time this season but their ace, Roy Halladay, takes to the mound against the villified A.J. Burnett. The same Burnett who left the Jays nest in the off season in search of more money. It has the making of a great game. Let's hope the idiots stay home so the real fans can enjoy this encounter.

NLL division finals

Since I got one of my first round predictions wrong, I figure I should revise my comments on the rest of the playoffs. Well, actually, all comments are still relevant except for the one series. Rochester was unable to finish the upset and in the last five minutes allowed New York (or should I say Casey Powell) to come back to tie the game and eventually lose it in overtime.

So with Rochester loss, New York Titans advance to the East division final to host the Buffalo Bandits. Buffalo lost both meetings against New York this year, which is why the Titans get to host this game and not Buffalo, all else being equal. In my opinion, Buffalo is the better team in this game although New York has played more consistently this year. I think Buffalo is going to avenge their two regular season losses in a big way. Bandits by a few, let’s say four.

I would like to see San Jose defeat Calgary so I can attend another game live but I think Calgary will pull out the win in the West final. Still backing the Bandits in the Cup final too, in overtime. With luck the Bandits will have the East final well in hand early so I can flip to the West final at the start. Otherwise, it’s split screen for me.

Battalion shelled by Spitfires

The Windsor Spitfires put a licking on the Brampton Battalion in game one of the OHL Championship Series. The game started out close but then they dropped the puck. Okay so it was close for a few minutes in the first period as the game was tied 1-1 at one point. By the time the first was over, Windsor had a commanding 4-1 lead. That lead was extended to 6-1 after two and 10-1 by the end of the game.

Leading the Spitfires was Justin Shugg with a hat trick, Andrei Loktionov with two goals and an assist and both Taylor Hall and Adam Henrique with one goal and two assists. Josh Day got the lone goal for the Battalion.

Both teams head to The Bunker in Brampton on Friday night where the home tropps will look to even the series. After the shelling they took last night, I expect Friday's game to be very spirited and Brampton to come out hungry and show all they belong in this series. It should be a fun game anyhow as I will be in attendance for my first hockey game in The Bunker. You won't catch me wearing one of those ugly Battalion jerseys but I will be cheering for the home team. Bring the J Ross Robertson Cup back to the East!

Look quick!

The Toronto Blue Jays are the best team in Major League Baseball.

It may not last long though because the Boston Red Sox are only a game behind them and are on fire. They have just swept a nine game homestead and have won ten straight. A couple easy series coming up for the birds so they should hold onto the division lead heading into May.

Ready for NLL playoffs

Well we’re a week and a half away from the NLL playoffs and I can’t wait for the drive down the QEW on May 2. The East division finished with a three way tie for first once again but due to tiebreakers, the Bandits (10-6) finished 2nd. New York (10-6) finished on top with Boston (10-6) in third and Rochester (7-9) in a distant fourth. Out West, the Roughnecks of Calgary topped the league with a 12-4 record while Portland (9-7) finished in second, San Jose (7-9) in third and Colorado (7-9) barely made the fourth spot.

Calgary, with top seed, will look to host their second Champions Cup but will have to win two games starting with the always tough Colorado team. Portland’s quest for a return trip to the finals starts with a home game against San Jose. Buffalo will seek revenge against Boston at the HSBC while their western New York rivals travel to the big city to take on the New York Titans. All eight teams have the ability to win and no team is guaranteed the win so these four games should be awesome to watch.

Starting in the East:

New York plays a consistent game, putting in sixty hard minutes every game so they could earn the respect of the league this year with a Champions Cup final appearance. Rochester finished fourth but came on strong late in the season and are still mad they missed the playoffs last year for the first time in franchise history. If the ‘time’ is right Rochester could steal the first round game from New York but I don’t think they can get by either Boston or Buffalo. Buffalo is perhaps the best team in the East but has lacked the consistency this year. They started strong, as in unbeatable, but have gone 5-6 since then with 4 of those losses to the other top teams in the East. Boston has already surpassed most people’s expectations this season. I thought they’d do okay but tied for first in the East, not a chance. If Cosmo stands on his head and the team in front of him plays like they have been, they could easily find themselves in the finals. Any team with Dan Dawson on it can’t be ruled out come playoff time.

Over in the West:

The West is Calgary’s to lose. They are solid from front to back, including both tenders. If their record gets to their heads, Colorado will be there to pull them back out of the clouds. I am not giving Colorado much chance but I am also not writing them off. Portland is looking to give their fans one more reason to get their season tickets for next year with a home victory. Not sure if the win will help but it can’t hurt. Difference in the game will be Matt Disher for the Jax and Colin Doyle for the Stealth. San Jose has a potent offence that can steal this game and Colin Doyle has the ability to take control of this game with rookie Rhys Duch as his more than able sidekick.

This is now a god time for my picks but I am hesitant to make them, anything can happen in one game. Alright, here goes but I reserve the right to change my picks for games after the first round when I get the first round wrong.

Division Semi-finals:

• Colorado at Calgary - May 3: Calgary, they are too good to lose so early in the playoffs.
• San Jose at Portland - May 1: San Jose, double D’s will lead the Stealth to victory
• Rochester at New York - May 1: Rochester, O’Toole and Williams will have great games
• Boston at Buffalo - May 2: Buffalo, they are not going to lose three games in a row, JT will ensure that.

Division Finals:

• San Jose at Calgary - Calgary, but in a close one; Sanderson and Doyle will compete for top points
• Rochester at Buffalo - Buffalo, the place will be electric giving the Bandits the extra edge (I like to think Bandit fans can actually make a difference)

Champions Cup:

• Buffalo at Calgary - Buffalo, in overtime. Payback for the loss in 2004, it’s that simple. If only I had more vacation time…and money…I’d be back in the saddle(dome) again.

The Second Round

Well, Brian Kilrea's coaching career in the OHL is officially over. The Niagara IceDogs came back from a two goal deficit in the third period of Tuesday night's game to beat the 67's in overtime. That was the only series to make it the full seven games. Other teams to win were Brampton in four games, Belleville in six and Mississauga in five from the East and Windsor in four, London in five, Saginaw in four and Plymouth in five from the West.

With all four conference semi finals beginning tonight, it is a good time to make my predictions on them. Let's see if I can do better than the first round.

Belleville vs Niagara - Belleville's inconsistency continues to plague them as they needed six games to defeat the Sudbury Wolves. To be fair some of that could be due to the lengthy travel between the two cities. Niagara is coming off an emotional win in game seven on the road. This is an interesting match up as the teams will go from the largest ice surface in the league in Belleville to the smallest ice in Niagara. Belleville will take game one but the series will go six before the Bulls advance.

Brampton vs Mississauga - Travel is almost non existent in this series and both teams should be well rested as neither team had much trouble in the first round. Mississauga will give Brampton a good challenge but Brampton is too good and will win the series in six.

Windsor vs Plymouth - Both teams had an easy time in round one and should also be well rested. Windsor will look for another sweep but I think the Whalers will steal a game. Spitfires in five.

London vs Saginaw - This series will be a lot closer than the Knights will want it to be but will be a good test for the Conference final against Windsor. London has too many good players, several with big game experience, to lose at this point and will edge out the Spirit in a thrilling seven game series. This series will be a good lead into the remaining rounds.

Changing Gears

One week today the Rogers Centre will be full for the only time this MLB season as the Toronto Blue Jays open their 2009 schedule against their one time rival Detroit Tigers. The anticipation of a horrible season should not prevent the stadium from filling on opening day as it seemingly always does. It may take until the weekend to double the yearly attendance figures though.

Titans Steal One From The Bandits

The HSBC crowd was pumped, the announcer was pumped, the bag piper was pumped and even the anthem singer seemed to have a little extra enthusiasm prior to the New York Titans / Buffalo Bandits lacrosse game Saturday night. Unfortunately for the 18,550 in attendance, the Buffalo Bandits enthusiasm left quickly.

Despite getting off 59 shots on net, the Bandits were only able to score nine times as they lost 11-9 to the Titans. All game long the Titans defence caused the Bandits some off-ball struggles but the Bandits were still able to get several quality scoring chances on drives to the net. Those chances ended up missing the net, hitting iron or sucked into the mid-section of New York’s net minder Matt Vinc. During the first quarter Vinc added to the Bandits frustrations by turning aside several sure goals.

Coupled with the lack of emotion displayed by the Bandits was the inability of their defence to stop New York when the momentum shifted to the home side. Twice the Bandits had two goal runs that gave them momentum but each time the Titans responded by netting the next goal and killing all momentum. Some of this poor play rests at the feet of the Bandits goalie, Mike Thompson, as he let several long shots get past him (the type of shots that are meant to generate rebounds as the shot clock nears zero) and allowed some other goals that he should not have.

New York deserves some credit for the win as well. They did play hard the whole game and did not let the crowd and the momentum shifts affect their play. They did not look seem to control the ball as long as Buffalo did this game but they did enough to get the win. As mentioned earlier, Vinc made several spectacular saves in the opening quarter that kept the Titans in the game, including turning away some breakaway chances by the Bandits. The Titans played the full sixty minutes and that is the reason they won, it’s as simple as that.

Next game for Buffalo is the highly anticipated match up Saturday night against the Boston Blazers while the Titans have a home and home with Philadelphia next weekend. A sweep by New York would solidify a playoff spot for them and all but eliminate Philadelphia from the post season. A New York sweep would also give Buffalo a spot in the playoffs regardless of how they do in Boston.

Montour Should Be Number 1 For Bandits

After a record tying performance last weekend against the Portland Lumberjax, will Ken Montour get the starting goaltender tag for the Buffalo Bandits and start this weekend’s game against the Titans?

At the beginning of the season coach Darris Kilgour stated he would use his two goalies on a rotating basis. If this is still the case after the career game, Montour will find himself watching Mike Thompson take to the field Saturday night. When given the chance, Thompson has not looked sharp and left his last two starts early in the first half. He might have been the victim of poor defence in front of him but he still hasn’t played like the Bandits need him to. Montour on the other hand has performed admirably. Montour sits atop the league in wins (tied with Anthony Cosmo of Boston), goals against average with an insane 9.04 and save percentage with .818. He has played the seventh most minutes and has allowed the fewest goals for those goalies that played over 400 minutes (8th among goalies that played more than 200 minutes).

Montour is in the running for Goalie of the Year honours and the only thing that would get in his way from achieving this honour is not getting enough minutes. Coach Kilgour needs to ensure his team is fully ready for the playoffs so that likely means giving Mikey some starts. Banditland can only hope that Thompson steps up like he can; he did backstop Buffalo to a Champion’s Cup win last year. For all I know this decision might already be made but I have not found any news of it.

My Thoughts On Buying Jerseys

It's Friday and I can't really get into my work so here are my thoughts on buying team jerseys.

I have recently developed an addiction for owning team jerseys but most of the jerseys I own are blanks (i.e. have no number or name on the back). Not only are blank jerseys less expensive up front than their named counterparts, they also provide a longer wear as well. With blank jerseys, one does not have to worry if their favourite player gets traded or retires. Wearing the name of a retired player on one's back just makes them look outdated and cheap, unless that player happens to be one of the games greats or had a major impact on the game or team.

So with this in mind I thought long and hard before buying the new third jersey for the Bandits. This jersey needs a name and number on the back to make it complete; it just doesn't look right left blank. I was at odds with which player I should get stitched on the back when I realized the loophole that existed. John Tavares is one of, if not the greatest lacrosse players ever and he conveniently plays for the Bandits. Although Steenhuis is more suited to the bright orange jersey, due to longevity and his great skills, Tavares' name now adorns the back of my jersey resting above his number 11. After all, it will save me from looking cheap or buying a new jersey in a few years when/if Tavares retires.